My 15 yr. old boy told me that he is not going to waste his summer this year and that he wants to find a job, practice his music a more seriously and work out more. I said, ‘great son’. Knowing full well, if I came home during the day I would find him sitting in his boxers eating Poptarts and watching Adam Sandler movies. He is just 15, so if he does any of the things he says, then great.
I told him okay learn to sight read for your guitar, go to the neighbors for yard work and get some push ups and chin ups in for some strength and upper body development. Of course he gives me the- Dad don’t know diddily, 15 yr. old knows everything look, and says he is just going to run because ‘they say strength training will stunt my growth’.
He is probably one of the shorter guys in his class and on the volleyball team (I’m 6’1 and know he is a late bloomer). I said who is ‘they’?, and he wouldn’t say. I try to tell him how strength training will help him grow, falling on deaf ears. He does see me going to my workouts 3-4x’s a week.
Okay, so here is what I need, Ideas(with links). I have ideas but maybe I could pick something else up here. Maybe a link, of an example of a kid who went from skinny to strong. I am also looking for a simple workout program he could do from home. I could easily tell him what to do but he is at that stage(which is the crux of the problem). I am not getting him a trainer. I need simple examples because he will get turned off. I am hoping this is his summer for him to grow up a little and I am trying to help him without him knowing it.
If your still with me, thanks for any ideas or help.
You were right to give him advice on chinups, pullups etc.
Maybe you should get a family gym pass and take him with you. The best motivator is a friend who sticks right along with you the entire way. Plus, he cant say no to it when you make him go
Also, there are hundreds of articles on this website you could be reading, spare no time! gogo!
Secretly replace the Adam Sandler DVDs with propaganda films: Schwarzenegger, Stallone, etc.
HangerBaby’s got a good point: since he’s interested in running bring him to the local fatness center for a round on the treadmills. I bet $500 he’ll get sick of housewives and chunksters and wonder what you’re up to with the free weights. That’ll send a clear message!
It might overface him a bit but it’s a link. Also there’s something about teen training on Arnolds web page but I reckon he’ll think it’s a bit square these days.
For a simple routine, check out Mehdi’s Stronglifts program. It’s a great beginner program. It’s simple and focuses on compound lifts. All you need is a barbell, squat rack and some plates.
The main thing is to involve him in your training and not to push him beyond what he’s comfortable with. It’s easy to turn kids off at that age. Remember, you’re Dad, there’s no way you could ever know what it’s like at that age.
The strong lifts is a great program, similar to Mark Rippetoe’s “Starting Strength” program. That’s where the information in the first link came from. I would recommend buying that book for him. It’s sometimes better to have an expert tell him what he needs to hear instead of getting it from Dad.
[quote]kingfin4 wrote:
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He is probably one of the shorter guys in his class and on the volleyball team (I’m 6’1 and know he is a late bloomer)… [/quote]
Be careful of assuming that he is a late bloomer. He may never be tall. You may be setting him up for disappointment. I’m 6’2". My 15 year old son is average height. He has been all his life. I know he will likely never be as tall as I am and he’s comfortable with that. He’s active in sports where height is not important. You may want to prepare him for that.
Leaving a 15 year old to decide for himself to do pushups is kind of a lost cause, especially with t.v. , internet, and video games hanging around. Some kids will work out on their own, but most won’t.
Start bringing him to the gym with you, don’t force him to do to much at first, but let him test the waters and get used to it. Make it something you guys do together, if he gets into it great, if not, sign him up for some tap lessongs just kidding.
I work at a gym and I see a bunch of guys come in and train with their fathers, and their not uncool, their all pretty much good looking high school/college athletes.
At 15 all he needs to see is how lifitng can get you in great shape and how the girls will love it!
(Well it is the No. 1 reason most people even start working out…)
I wouldn’t force him to go along with you. Doing something as hard and challenging as lifting or working out in general will put him off it for life if he doesn’t want to be there…
I’m only 19 though…
You’ll know your own son better than I would, I just wouldn’t push him is all…
I told him okay learn to sight read for your guitar, go to the neighbors for yard work and get some push ups and chin ups in for some strength and upper body development. [/quote]
This doesn’t have anything to do with strength training, but if you really want him (and he wants to) get better at guitar get him a teacher. There’s plenty of good teachers out there than charge less than $20/lesson (I’m one of them).
He’ll move along a lot quicker, and get a more solid foundation with music in general rather than just guitar. If he already has a teacher, that’s outstanding! (and disregard that paragraph…) Shoot me a PM if you’d like some online guitar resources to check out.
I wish my family had gotten me into strength training when I was younger.
Another option would be to “trick” him into doing some strength training by doing sled drags or pushes etc. it’d still be “running” or something. When I started I was 19 (22 now), and I was more excited about being able to do the lifts.
When I figured out how to squat for real, it kept me coming back to it. Make a deal with the kid to try it out for a few weeks with you. Watch him add weight to things and see if he doesn’t get addicted.
Instead of him watching you go to train 3- 4 times a week, why not take him with you. He doesn’t have to do anything the first few times, just look and learn.
Get him to read this, this is one dedicated 16 year old. Even I can learn a lot from him.
Have him go to the gym with you and SPOT you and see if he likes it (gym atmoshere)
then have try a couple of lifts to get his feet wet.
Teach him like a bother of iron with respect. Help out on his diet and training program. Besides building muscle it will build character.
First you need to remove all shit food from the house. No poptarts, no cereal, no soda. Buy oatmeal, fish, meat, vegetables, fruit and supplements. Oh, and especially milk.
If you don’t eat healthy, he wont.
If you go to the gym, take him with you. Let him run on the treadmill. Chances are he will realizes that all the fat asses on there are fat for a reason.
When he decides to lift, teach him compound movements and keep him away from doing dumbbell curls. He can do those after a year of training, if not longer.
One more thing. Find out who told him strength training stunts the growth of a pubescent teenager and slap them.
I started working out at 15 with my dad, similar story to yours. I dunno how built you are, but i always admired how my dad looked so i went with him when he asked me to go. But i still never listened to a single thing he told me to do. Best thing is to just get him to go to the gym with you i think and he will figure it out on his own even if he claims your doing it all wrong.
Maybe that is a little confusing, basically what i am trying to say is there is no way to tell a 15 year old kid how to do anything and expect him to believe you. So just let him start working out and if he enjoys it he will figure things out for himself.
BTW i think it is probably a mistake to take away his foods and force him to eat right, maybe its because my mother is a psychotherapist. If they told me not to do something i did it, habitually. Best thing to do is let him decide for himself what to eat… if he really likes working out and his progress stalls he will figure out shit food is not helping. Can’t make anyone like anything.
